Pearl Adarh's Blog

Give Jesus a chance

Wednesday 2nd February 2022

'Come, follow me, and I will show you how to...' Matthew 4:19 NLT

When others don't see your potential, Jesus does. In common fishermen, he saw the capacity to change the world. Here is something you may not have considered: there are two sides to following Jesus - you believe in him, and he believes in you. Jesus told Simon Peter and Andrew, 'Come, follow me, and I will show you how to...' (Matthew 4:19 NLT).

Do you doubt that? So did Nathanael. When he was invited to meet Jesus, he said, 'Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Philip said to him, Come and see' (John 1:46 NKJV). Even after three years of witnessing Jesus' miracles, his disciples still had doubts. Notice how often he said to them, 'O you of little faith'; 'Still you do not believe'; and 'If you believed, you would see'. Knowing they were anxious about what would happen when he left them and went back to Heaven, Jesus said, 'I will ask the Father and he will give you another Comforter, and he will never leave you' (John 14:16 TLB). The Greek word for comforter is parakletos, meaning 'one who comes alongside to help you'.

The truth is, there will never be a day when you don't need God's help or when it isn't available to you. Maybe you still have doubts. If so, take heart! Jesus loves doubters. Didn't he handpick Thomas? Maybe you think you have too many weaknesses. So did Peter - but Jesus made him the head of the church. Just come as you are, and let his presence rub off on you. What do you have to lose? If you have tried it your way and it's not working, come, give Jesus a chance!

The seven sons of Sceva (2)

Saturday 23rd October 2021

'He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.' 1 John 4:4 NKJV

From the seven sons of Sceva we learn two very important things:

(1) Satan knows who you are. The demons in this man spoke to the sons of Sceva, saying, 'Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you' (Acts 19:15 NKJV)? Question: Do you have the kind of relationship with God that causes Satan to know your name, and acknowledge that you're a force to be reckoned with? When God asked Satan, 'Have you noticed my servant, Job?' he replied, 'Yes, and every time I come up against him I hit a force field I can't pe*****te' (Job 1:8-12, paraphrased). Maybe you're preoccupied with your own inadequacy, thinking you're not up to the job, or you're not good enough. Understand this: it's not you the enemy's afraid of - it's God's Spirit within you!

(2) When 'the evil day' comes, you discover if you have what it takes. Paul said, 'Take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day' (Ephesians 6:13 NKJV). The demons in the man recognised the weaknesses in the seven sons of Sceva and stripped them of their pretence. You will only survive if your faith is genuine, because one day you'll have to walk with God when you can't understand or explain where he's taking you. Your techniques and talents won't get you through. You're going to have to stand on his Word when it doesn't look like it's working for you. That's when you discover it's '"not by might nor...power, but by my Spirit," says the Lord' (Zechariah 4:6 NKJV).